Would Mega Millions jackpot make you as rich as Jerry Jones? Where $1.1B ranks in DFW
Winning tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot will not get you on the list of richest people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Not even close.
Consider that winning the $1.1 billion prize is the second sweetest lottery pot in history — a draw in 2018 was for $1.54 billion.
The winner has two choices in collecting the loot. First option: as a lump sum that immediately slashes the total to $648.2 million. Or, the second option is for the winner to take the prize paid out over 30 years, with each payment 5% bigger than the previous one.
Both choices are subject to taxes, of course.
A single winner taking the prize in a lump sum will net $408.3 million, after taking out the maximum federal tax rate of 37%.
That is not peanuts, but not close to cracking the top ten richest person list in DFW.
1. Alice Walton
Alice Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founder, Sam Walton, and heiress to the grocery store company. She is the richest woman in the U.S. and has focused more on cultivating art in recent years, rather than working for Walmart like her siblings, Rob and Jim.
Forbes list ranking: 18
Net worth: $65.3 billion
Age: 72
Residence: Fort Worth
2. Jerry Jones
The Dallas Cowboys owner bought the team in 1989 for $150 million and since turned the franchise into a multi-billion venture. Jones made his fortune as an oil wildcatter, making millions in the 1970s before eventually buying “America’s team.”
Forbes list ranking: 185
Net worth: $10.6 billion
Age: 79
Residence: Dallas
3. Andrew Beal
Beal is the founder and owner of Beal Financial Corporation, which owns Beal Bank and has assets of over $8 billion. Originally from Michigan, Beal is known for picking up distressed assets and made a pretty penny during the Great Recession in the late 2000s.
Forbes list ranking: 201
Net worth: $9.9 billion
Age: 69
Residence: Dallas
4. Ray Lee Hunt
Hunt chairs Hunt Consolidated, an oil and gas conglomerate, including Hunt Oil, one of the largest privately-held oil companies in the country. Ray Lee Hunt is the wealthiest of oil wildcatter H.L. Hunt’s 15 children.
Forbes list ranking: 386
Net worth: $6.5 billion
Age: 79
Residence: Dallas
5. Ken Fisher
Fisher is the executive chairman and co-chief investment officer for Fisher Investments, a company he founded in the late 1970s. Fisher founded the company with $250 in 1979, and the firm ended 2020 with $159 billion in assets.
Forbes list ranking: 509
Net worth: $5.3 billion
Age: 71
Residence: Dallas
6. Robert Bass
Bass and his brothers each inherited $2.8 million from their oil tycoon uncle Sid Richardson, and grew his fortune through oil investments. Robert Bass’ family developed what would become Sundance Square in Fort Worth, and is now under sole ownership of Ed and Sasha Bass, Robert’s brother.
Forbes list ranking: 536
Net worth: $5.1 billion
Age: 74
Residence: Fort Worth
7. Mark Cuban
Cuban got his start in the tech industry founding Broadcast.com in 1995, which sold four years later to Yahoo for $5.7 billion. Cuban is likely more well known as the Dallas Mavericks owner, who bought the team in 2000, and is frequently seen courtside at games. Cuban is also a regular on the investment TV show “Shark Tank”, where start-ups and companies pitch their business to a panel of wealthy investors.
Forbes list ranking: 601
Net worth: $4.7 billion
Age: 63
Residence: Dallas
8. Trevor Rees-Jones, Robert Rowling and Dave Bonderman
Three North Texas residents share the same ranking and net worth.
Rees-Jones began his career as a bankruptcy attorney, but later started Chief Oil & Gas in 1994. He would become a large player in the shale fracking boom, solidifying his multi-billion dollar fortune.
Forbes list ranking: 637 (tie)
Net worth: $4.5 billion
Age: 70
Residence: Dallas
Rowling began his career working for his father’s company, Tana Oil and Gas, later reinvesting money from the company’s sale into the purchase of Omni Hotels. There are over 50 Omni locations around the U.S., including a hotel in downtown Fort Worth.
Forbes list ranking: 637 (tie)
Net worth: $4.5 billion
Age: 69
Residence: Dallas
Bonderman is the founding partner and chairman of private equity firm TPG, which manages around $80 billion in assets. Bonderman met his longtime business partner, Jim Coulter, while both were working for billionaire and North Texan Robert Bass.
Forbes list ranking: 637 (tie)
Net worth: $4.5 billion
Age: 79
Residence: Fort Worth
9. W. Herbert Hunt and Margot Birmingham Perot
W. Herbert Hunt is one of oil wildcatter H.L. Hunt’s 15 children and brother to fellow billionaire, Ray Lee Hunt. Hunt owns Petro-Hunt, a Louisiana-located refinery and oil company, and attempted to corner the silver market by acquiring large quantities of the metal, but failed when prices collapsed.
Forbes list ranking: 665 (tie)
Net worth: $4.3 billion
Age: 93
Residence: Dallas
Margot Birmingham Perot is the widow of the late technology businessman and politician, H. Ross Perot Sr. Perot and her family endowed the Margot Perot Center at Texas Health Dallas, that provides a hotel-like experience for new families.
Forbes list ranking: 665 (tie)
Net worth: $4.3 billion
Age: 88
Residence: Dallas
10. Kelcy Warren
Warren co-founded pipeline company Energy Transfer in 1996, where he now serves as executive chairman after stepping down as CEO in 2020. Warren is a University of Texas at Arlington graduate and currently serves on the University of Texas System Board of Regents.
Forbes list ranking: 728
Net worth: $4 billion
Age: 66
Residence: Dallas
